Research Radio Ep 14: The Myth of Vegetarianism in India

In this episode, we speak to Balmurli Natarajan and Suraj Jacob about the politics of vegetarianism in India.

At best, only three in ten Indians are vegetarians, and more realistically less than two in ten are vegetarians. Yet, India is often portrayed as a land of vegetarians in popular culture. Our guests will probe this representation, and reveal how vegetarianism varies across caste, religion, class, gender, state and time.

We will speak to Balmurli Natarajan and Suraj Jacob about the politics of vegetarianism in India. Dr Jacob is a political economist afﬁliated with Azim Premji University, Bengaluru and Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum. Dr Natrajan is an anthropologist afﬁliated with William Paterson University of New Jersey, United States and Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. We will discuss their EPW articles titled "'Provincialising' Vegetarianism: Putting Indian Food Habits in Their Place" and "Deepening Divides: The Caste, Class and Regional Face of Vegetarianism."

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